The 14th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “THE EUROPEAN UNION, TURKEY, THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE KURDS”, Brussel - Hoofdinhoud

DEMOCRATIC ALTERNATIVE TO TYRANNY AND CHAOS IN THE MIDDLE EAST - KURDISH VISION AND STRATEGIES

Date

06 Dec 17 - 07 Dec 17

DEMOCRATIC ALTERNATIVE TO TYRANNY AND CHAOS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

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  KURDISH VISION AND STRATEGIES-

Brussels, European Parliament

Wednesday 6th & Thursday 7th of December 2017

IMPORTANT TECHNICAL INFORMATION

"HOW TO PARTICIPATE AND ENTER THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT"

An official "European Parliament personal badge/pass" will be available for all ALREADY REGISTERED participants to the Conference.

Your "personal badge / pass" will be available at the main entrance of the European Parliament (Place de Luxembourg - main European Parliament's building "Altiero Spinelli" - just after the sliding doors you'll find a conference desk), during and only the following date / hours:

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  Wednesday 6th of December, 14:00 - 14:30

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  Thursday 7th December, 08.00 - 09:00

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  Thursday 7th December, 14:00 - 14:30

All participants must take care of their own "EP badge / pass" during both days; if someone lose the "pass / badge" it will be impossible for the conference's organizers to replace it, according to the E.P. internal rules.

For any additional information, please contact the conference's secretariat:

brusselsconferenceep@gmail.com

DAY 1

Wednesday, 6th of December 2017, 15.00-16.00

OPENING SESSION, Room - Altiero Spinelli A5E-2

Interpretation in Turkish, Kurdish, English, French, German

OPENING SPEECHES AND SPECIAL REMARKS BY

Ms. Kariane WESTRHEIM, Chair EUTCC, University of Bergen, Norway

MEP Gabi ZIMMER, MEP, Chairwoman of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left Group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament, Germany

MEP Josef WEIDENHOLZER, MEP, Vice-President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament, Austria

MEP Bodil VALERO, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, Sweden

Mr. Doug NICHOLLS, General Secretary of General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU)

DAY 1

Wednesday, 6th of December 2017, 16.00-18.00

Panel I, Room - Altiero Spinelli A5E-2

(Interpretation in Turkish, Kurdish, English, French, German)

THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS: NEW CIRCUMSTANCES, PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES FOR DEMOCRATIZATION

Moderator

Ms. Gökay AKBULUT, MP-Germany

Ms. Dersim DAGDEVIREN, KURD-AKAD, Germany

THE BREAKDOWN OF THE PEACE PROCESS AND THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY

Ms, Dilan Dirayet TASDEMIR, MP, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)

POLITICS AND THE DEMOCRACY IN POST-COUP TURKEY

Mr. Cengiz CANDAR, Journalist, Turkey (TBC)

TURKEY AND ITS ALLIES’ ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS

Ms. Frederike GEERDINK, Journalist, Netherland

TURKEY’S RELATIONS AND TIES WITH RADICAL GROUPS

Mr David PHILLIPS, Director of Peace-building and Human Rights Program, Columbia University, US

THE FUTURE OF EU-TURKEY RELATION

MEP Ana GOMES, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP

DEMOCRATIC AUTONOMY AS A SOLUTION MODEL OF THE KURDISH QUESTION IN TURKEY

Mr. Cetin GURER, Guest Researcher, University of Bremen, Centre for Work and Politics, Germany

QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION WITH MODERATORS & DISCUSSANTS

DAY 2

Thursday, 7th of December 2017, 09.30-10.30

Panel III, Room 1G2

(Interpretation in Turkish, Kurdish, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Greek)

THE STRUGGLE FOR GENDER EMANCIPATION IN/AND THE KURDISH FREEDOM MOVEMENT

OPENING REMARKS by

MEP Julie WARD, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament

PANEL DISCUSSION chaired by

Mr. Gunay YILDIZ, Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), UK

In conversation with

Ms. Foza YUSUF, Co-Chair of the Executive Council of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria

and Rahila GUPTA, Journalist and Writer, UK

Thursday, 7th of December 2017, 10.30-13.00

Panel IV, Room 1G2

(Interpretation in Turkish, Kurdish, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Greek)

CONSOLIDATING PEACE, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER RAQQA:

PROSPECTS FOR THE REGION AND THE KURDS

Moderators

MEP Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left

Ms. Berivan ASLAN, Austrian political scientist, lawyer and politician of the Greens

REGIONAL AND GLOBAL POWER POLITICS IN THE SYRIAN CONFLICT

Mr. Jonathan STEELE, Veteran Foreign Correspondent and Author, UK

REGIONAL AND GLOBAL POWER POLITICS IN THE IRAQ CONFLICT

Mr. Evaggelos ARETAIOS, Journalist, Greece

REGIONAL AND GLOBAL POWER POLITICS IN THE IRAQ-KURDISTAN CONFLICT

Mr.Yousif Mohammed Sadiq . President of the Kurdistan Parliament-Iraq

WAR ON TERROR, REFUGEE CRISIS, AND THE CRISIS OF EUROPE

Mr Thomas Jeffrey MILEY, Lecturer of Political Sociology in the Department of Sociology at Cambridge, UK

THE ANTI-WAR STRUGGLE AND THE DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERAL MODEL

Mr. Darnell Stephen SUMMERS, Vietnam Veteran, Peace Activist, US

THE ROLE AND POLICIES OF THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS - POLITICAL AND LEGAL CHALLENGES

Mr. Michael GUNTER, Professor in the Political Science department at Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, US

Thursday, 7th of December 2017, 15.00-17.30

Panel V, Room 1G2

(Interpretation in Turkish, Kurdish, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian)

THE NEW HOPE FOR HUMANITY AND THE DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERAL MODEL FOR CHANGE

Moderators:

MEP Marie-Christine VERGIAT, GUE/NGL Group, France

Ms. Berivan ASLAN, Austrian political scientist, lawyer and politician of the Greens, Austria

SOUTH-AFRICA EXPERIENCE: PEACELFUL SOULUTION, SELF-DETERMINATION AND CO-EXISTENCE

Mr. Mahmoud PATEL, Lecturer and Head of Academic Development at University of the Western Cape and Secretary General of Kurdish Human Rights Action Group South Africa (KHRAG), SA

THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION AND THE BELGIAN COURT OF APPEAL DECISION ON THE KURDISH MOVEMENT

Mr. Jan FERMON, Lawyer and Secretary General of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Belgium

THE DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERAL MODEL IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: ECONOMY, ECOLOGY, PATRIARCHY

Ms. Sukran SINCAR, Kurdish Women’s Movement Europa

THE EQUALITY AND UNITY OF RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES

Mr. Metin RHAWI, Representative of European Syriac Union (ESU), North-Syria

CONSOLIDATING STABILITY AND DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY AND MIDDLE EAST

Mr. Rezan SARICA, Lawyer of Abdullah Ocalan, Asrin Hukuk Burosu (AHB), Turkey

THE STRUGGLE OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT AND THE DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERAL MODEL

Mr. Simon DUBBINS, UNITE International Director, UK

QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION WITH MODERATORS & DISCUSSANTS

Closing Session

Thursday, 7th of December 2017, 17.30-18.00

Panel VI, Room 1G2

(Interpretation in Turkish, Kurdish (passive), English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese)

CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINAL RESOLUTION

EUTCC Board Members

Ms. Kariane WESTRHEIM, University of Bergen, Norway

Mr. Michael GUNTER, Tennessee Technological University, USA

Ms. Dersim DAGDEVIREN, KURD-AKAD, Germany

Mr. Joost JONGERDAN, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands

Ms. Estella SCHMID, Peace in Kurdistan (PIK), UK

Mr. Thomas MILEY, Lecturer of Political Sociology in the Department of Sociology at Cambridge, UK

PATRONS

ARCHBISHOP EMERITUS DESMOND TUTU

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, South Africa

SHIRIN EBADI

Human Rights Lawyer, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran

BIANCA JAGGER

Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador, Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, UK

NOAM CHOMSKY

Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

LEYLA ZANA

European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Rafto Prize Laureate, Turkey

BARONESS HELENA KENNEDY QC

House of Lords, UK

CHRISTINE BLOWER

National Union of Journalist (NUT), International Secretary, UK

PROF MARY DAVIS

Visiting Professor of Labour History, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

DR DEREK WALL

Joint International Co-ordinator of the Green Party of England and Wales and author

SIMON DUBBINS

UNITE International Director, UK

LEN MCCLUSKEY

UNITE General Secretary, UK

MR JONATHAN STEELE

Veteran foreign correspondent and author, UK

DOUG NICHOLLS

General Secretary, General Federation of Trade Unions, UK

BERT SCHOUWENBURG

International Officer, GMB, UK

In cooperation with the Kurdish Institute of Brussels

For more information please contact: elisa.reschini@europarl.europa.eu